Why do Italians respond to 'grazie' with 'di niente'?
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@I.M., mi sa che sono scomparsi i commenti che c'erano precedentemente qui... – DaG Nov 06 '15 at 10:40
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@DaG The timeline tells that there was only one comment, and it didn't disappear - it was simply moved below to Gabriele's answer. – I.M. Nov 07 '15 at 10:10
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Thanks, @I.M. I believed there were more comments here, among which the first one to mention Keine Ursache (before Gabriele's answer). I might mix it up with some other question. – DaG Nov 08 '15 at 08:22
2 Answers
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Because it means
You have nothing to thank me about
which is somehow equivalent to the English expressions
Don't mention it
Not at all
No worries
and so on.
The idea is minimizing the importance of what the person is thanking you for, letting her understand it wasn't a hassle for you, therefore resulting in a polite expression.
Other alternative forms
Di nulla
Non c'è di che
the latter literally expressing the concept Non c'è di che ringraziarmi
Spanish and Portuguese, as well as French, do the same
De nada
and
De rien
As suggested by I.M. in the comments this is also true in German
Keine Ursache
and Swedish
ingen orsak
and Danish
ingen årsag
Gabriele Petronella
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1How about adding "You are welcome" to the proposed list of English expressions? – Kyriakos Kyritsis Nov 11 '13 at 20:33
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4It's made on purpose, as it literally doesn't mean the same thing. All the expressions I listed have in common the negative form, explicitly used to minimize the act itself. – Gabriele Petronella Nov 11 '13 at 20:40
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3Besides "di nulla", also "non c'è di che", which should be the most clear of them all. – Matteo Italia Nov 11 '13 at 21:37
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@I.M.: also "nichts zu danken" in German, which in Italian would be "niente di cui ringraziare" – Walter Tross Jun 10 '15 at 13:11
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Yes, such response is also very common in Slovene where, after being thanked, one usually answers with "Ni zakaj", which is equivalent to "Di niente". – user12344567 Jun 21 '15 at 10:30
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Italians (me too) often also answer with "Figùrati", but actually I miss where it comes from :) – Niki Romagnoli Oct 05 '15 at 07:23
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1You dont say "Keine Ursache" in German. NO NO. - Nichts dafür - Gern geschehen
- Bitte , etc..
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2@cristian "keine Ursache" is perfectly fine. Just because it's not used whereever you are doesn't mean it's wrong (I never knew "da nicht für", for example, before I talked to people from Westfalen). – YviDe Mar 29 '16 at 10:21
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In Danish also "det var så lidt" (it was so little), ie. almost nothing, similar to di niente. – nsandersen Jun 07 '18 at 18:13
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It's an equivalent of "Not at all" in British English and "No problem" in American English, used just as a polite but informal reply after someone has thanked you.
I.M.
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